Share Your Bear - Bringing Comfort to Child Victims

There's a new face in the Victim Services vehicles in Calgary, AB. Thanks to the Calgary Police Force, and the Girl Guides of Canada, when a Calgary police officer arrives to assist any child victim, the officer will be accompanied by a brand-new Teddy Bear. Thousands of these furry ambassadors have been donated to bring a touch of comfort to child victims.

Not only do the bears help to break the ice for the by presenting a "softer" presence for the Victim Services Officers, the bears bring a touch of normalcy to the situation. They provide something soft and nonthreatening for the child to hang onto. Though the bear itself will not heal the child, it can be a valuable tool to help that process to begin.

This project, which celebrated its 11th year in 2011, was inspired by an Airdrie school’s Christmas toy drive for children who had been the victims of some type of misfortune.

Taking this idea one step further, the Calgary Police Service’s Victim Assistance Unit created a partnership with the Kids Help Phone to ensure this kindness-campaign would continue, to ensure that every child who went through such an experience would know they had a friend.

Criminal or traumatic events can be horrifying enough to an adult. Traumatic events can leave children feeling sad, scared, and alone, unable to process their feelings. After such an event, it may be very difficult for them to begin to heal and to move on.

The Calgary "Bear Drive" was developed to involve the community in supporting children or youth who become victims of trauma or crime, or who witness criminal or crime-related events.

The Calgary Police Service, Kids Help Phone, and Girl Guides of Canada are working together to address the needs of these children and youth with their "Share Your Bear" program. The idea is a simple one: provide immediate comfort - the impact of such a caring gesture, though, can be profound for the child or youth. Often, this contact, made possible through the generosity and support of other children, can be the first step in the child's healing process.

Thousands of new and gently-used teddy bears are collected each year from caring Calgarians. Then the huggable stuffed animals are taken to Girl Guides Headquarters, where young Girl Guide volunteers help clean the used bears, and attach logos and contact information for Kids Help Phone and the CPS Victim Assistance Unit.

From there, the bears "graduate" to active duty, and are given by Calgary Police Service Victim Assistance Unit to children and youth in the community who are experience trauma as the result of crime.

The reason for this tagging is that often, young victims don’t know where to turn for help and further assistance. Not only do the bears act as a physical support, something tangible for the child to hang onto, but the teddy bears also provide contact information for programs that can help the children – phone numbers for the Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868) and the Calgary Police Service Victim Assistance Unit (206-8398).

Two thousand bears were collected in the 2011 campaign, and will soon be on their way to the Calgary Police, from there, to find their way into the hands of traumatized children.

There is a Nigerian proverb that admonishes everyone to, "hold a true friend with both hands". This is the purpose of the "Share Your Bear" program; to give a young person a special, trusted friend they can hold onto with both hands, when they are facing challenging times.

"It's [response to the “Share Your Bear Project”] been remarkable on many levels," Kids Help Phone President, Sharon Wood said in a recent interview with CTV. "Just the bear itself is a comfort in the moment to the child, but the longer term comfort is in knowing there's a place to call or turn to."

Anyone interested in donating a bear or bears to the "Share Your Bear" program can do so any time through the year at any Maxwell Realty location in Calgary, Alberta.

The wonderful thing about this and other such programs in other cities and towns, is the community involvement and caring.

Children's hospitals often support programs that donate stuffed animals to sick children. Sometimes, stuffed toys or dolls are used to help explain whatever treatments and surgeries will be carried out on the child. They have found the stuffed toys and dolls to be a most effective, non-threatening teaching tools - the children are reassured by their interaction with the stuffed toys, and their pre-and-post operative/treatment stress levels are greatly reduced.

Many fire departments collect stuffed animals to give to young people facing the aftermath of fire, surgery, or other traumatic events in their young lives. Tangible, touchable evidence of caring by another person can bring comfort to a child in a way that mere words cannot.

If there is such a program in your community, please consider supporting it. Someday, your gift could bring comfort and hope to a child in need.

© 2011 Elle Fredine, All rights reserved